The most important stereo you will own is in your car
As January melts into something more akin to June, temperatures rise and student feet become restless. Soon it will be spring break, which will fade quickly into summer. It’s almost the time of year when hearts start to ring with the call of the road. Gas is cheap and roads are clear. It’s not road trip season yet though, so here is a bevy of songs to keep you in the traveling mood until the time comes.
“Dream Big” by Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand
Cy Whitling
Maybe it’s a little cliché to say “dream big,” but this is the kind of quiet song that makes people long for adventure. Stop thinking in terms of miles per gallon and switch to memories per mile. It’s been too long since you last coasted along a silent sunset rural highway. Don’t be too cool for clichés. Pull out an atlas, fill up the tank and dream big.
“Snow is Gone” by Josh Ritter
This is a song to shout while pulling onto a highway, bursting with the enthusiasm of a fresh trip. Don’t worry, this restless highway energy will soon fade, but until then, welcome the change of seasons and marvel as the mile markers whistle by. Also, be warned, this song may be true right now, but be ready for Moscow to shatter any sunny hopes with another slushy dump before spring.
“Sirens” by String Cheese Incident
This tune is a little more relaxed. Its rhythm drives onward, chasing the end of a dotted centerline. At points it dances on the edge of harmonica induced chaos, but it always pulls back into a familiar chorus everyone in the car will be singing along by the second verse. This is a song for evening miles, stacking the distance as golden light falls behind the hills.
“Graceland” by Willie Nelson
It doesn’t matter where travellers are actually headed, when this song comes on, they are going to Graceland, Memphis Tennessee. Seriously, a road trip without this song is like a car without a radio, sure you might get somewhere, but is it really worth it?
“Truckin'” by Grateful Dead
This is a song to carry you through the evening. Its rhythm provides a base to drive on, but it stays funky and varied enough to keep weary heads from nodding. This is a tune to float through an evening’s growing shadows.
“My Silver Lining” by First Aid Kit
Sometimes, it’s impossible to resist the call of a moonlit highway. Sliding through silvery shadows of sagebrush, this song awakens the nocturnal driver in all of us. Just keep on keeping on. Soon the moon’s glow will fade into dawn and a new day will rise burning from the east. Until then, drive on and let the road carry you.
Cy Whitling can be reached at [email protected]